Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 02 - Papoosed (8 page)

Chapter Nine

“Father asked us, ‘What was God’s noblest work?’ Anna said, ‘Men,” but I said ‘Babies.’  Men are often bad, but babies never are.”

–Louisa May Alcott

            Back in her apartment, Essie found her three friends gathered around Fay’s wheelchair which was parked in front of Essie’s large front window.  Fay was holding up baby Antonio as Marjorie reached up to the row of Christmas bells that hung from Essie’s windows.  As Marjorie touched each colorful bell and made it sound, the baby boy’s eyes seemed to follow her hands.  He cooed and gurgled in apparent delight.

            “Essie, you’re back!” cried Opal.  “What’s that present?”

            “Oh, this,” mumbled Essie as she placed the gift-wrapped box on her end table next to her snow globe, “just something from … Hubert.”

            “Hubert!” cried Marjorie.  “He gave you a Christmas present, Essie?”

            “It’s just candy, Marjorie,” replied Essie, “not the Hope Diamond.”  She sneered at her friend.  “How’s the baby?”

            “Antonio loves music, Essie!” called out Marjorie from the window.  “Watch!”  She again punched the plastic bells in a row and, for certain, the baby did appear to wiggle and giggle in a full body response to the sound.

            “He likes music,” reiterated Opal.  “He’s probably going to be a musician.”  The three women left the window and moved into the center of Essie’s living room.  Essie sat down in her lounge chair, and Marjorie and Opal took their accustomed places on her sofa with Fay guiding her wheelchair to the center of the room–baby Antonio in her arms.

            “So, Essie,” began Marjorie, “did Santos find Antonio’s mother?”

            “No,” replied Essie forlornly.  She looked from one sad face to another and then all four women gazed at the little boy who apparently was now an orphan.

            “I don’t understand,” continued Opal.  “This woman just up and left her newborn child!  How could a woman do such a thing?  She doesn’t deserve to keep him!”

            “Now, don’t say that, Opal,” cautioned Essie.  “According to Santos, Maria is protecting the baby.  The father is abusive, remember?”

            “So, where is she?” asked Opal.  “I can understand wanting to take him away from the father, but why did she abandon him?”

            “Santos says she’s trying to protect him,” said Essie, defensively.

            “It doesn’t look like it to me,” argued Opal.

            “I don’t know, Opal,” interjected Marjorie.  “We don’t know what that poor woman has gone through.  The husband beat her.  And don’t forget he beat that poor helpless baby too!  I think we should give her the benefit of the doubt!  I think we should give her a little bit more time to try to work things out … whatever that entails.”

            “Yes,” agreed Essie, “particularly if informing social services about Antonio might result in his being returned to the father.  Surely we all agree that we can’t let that happen.”

            “You really think the authorities would return the baby to the father?” asked Marjorie with incredulity.

            “I wouldn’t put it past them,” said Essie.  “He is the legal parent.  The mother has abandoned the child so technically the father would get custody.”

            “We can’t let that happen,” said Opal, a fierce look of determination on her regal face.

            “We can’t,” agreed Marjorie.

            “Fay?” asked Essie.  All three women looked at their quiet fourth member holding the baby.  Fay looked down warmly at the child in her arms.  Then she looked up at each of her friends and gave a tiny nod.

            “Wonderful,” said Essie.  “So, obviously we need to do at least what we did yesterday and manage to feed and change the baby.  If you three can help me in those duties, I’d also like to do some investigating to try to track down Maria or her husband.  Santos has been attempting to contact Maria but he’s so new to this country that I’m not sure he knows how to look for someone.  Also, he just doesn’t have the time to spend on this if he wants to keep his job.  We have to help him.”

            “Of course, we can help!” announced Marjorie for the group.  “What should we do first?”

            “I’m guessing food will come first,” replied Essie.  “I fed Antonio just before you three arrived … .”

            “We fixed another bottle for him with my generic stuff while you were gone,” said Opal.  “When he’s hungry, we’re ready.”

            “Marvelous marbles!” cried Essie in glee.  “Marjorie and Fay, maybe you two can figure out a new outfit for Antonio.”

            “I know what you mean, Essie,” said Marjorie.  “The little shirt he has on is filthy!”  At that, Fay’s eyes lit up and she raised her hand in the air.

            “Fay?” asked Essie, wondering what the quiet little woman was trying to say.  Fay pointed to Antonio’s shirt and carefully handed the baby over to Marjorie.  Then she pressed the button on the wheelchair arm and headed out Essie’s front door with a wave.

            “Good Gertrude!” exclaimed Essie, “I wonder if she intends to go shopping for baby clothes.  Anyway, Marjorie, Antonio is your charge for now.  I’m going to do some telephoning.”

            As the three remaining women attended to their appointed tasks, the public address system crackled to life.  A young woman’s gentle voice spoke soothingly.

            “Residents, we will be doing our quarterly bug spraying this morning.  The exterminators will be by your apartments during the next few hours.  You may wish to vacate your apartments for a few hours after the spraying, particularly if you are sensitive to chemicals.”

            “What?” screamed Essie.  “No!  Not now!  We can’t have some bug man in here!  What will we do with Antonio?”

            “Calm down, Essie,” said Opal from the kitchen where she was getting the glove bottle ready.  “When he gets here, we’ll just slip Antonio in your walker basket and take him for a walk.”

            “Opal,” cried Marjorie, “you aren’t thinking of taking him outdoor, are you?  He’d freeze!”

            “No!” responded Essie, sitting at her desk with her telephone in her hand.  “Oh, leaping lobotomies! We don’t need this distraction now!”

            “We can handle it, Essie,” replied Opal.  “It’s three of us to one poor exterminator!”

            “Not a match!” said Marjorie in response.  Essie smirked at her friends and continued running her finger down the columns of building construction companies in the business pages of her telephone book.  “What are you looking for, Essie?”

            “I’m trying to find Antonio’s mother,” Essie replied, now using her desk-top magnifying glass to read the extremely small print in the large phone book.  “Santos said Maria’s husband, Gerald Compton, works for a building company that is somehow connected to flowers.”

            “Can’t you just call him at home?” asked Opal, bringing over a filled glove bottle and handing it to Marjorie who quickly began feeding Antonio.  The baby gurgled and began slurping hungrily on the plastic finger.  Opal edged herself onto the sofa next to Marjorie, her walker beside Marjorie’s.

            “I don’t think that’s wise,” explained Essie.  “If he’s there, it might infuriate him if he thinks I’m involved with this whole mess.  If he’s not there, I learn nothing.  However, if I can find where he works, I might be able to extract some information about him, if I’m careful.”

            “You mean, if you lie,” suggested Marjorie with a wiggle of her pert little nose.  She quickly covered Antonio’s tiny ears as if to prevent him from hearing the women plot and plan.

            “There’s nothing I can see that involves flowers and home construction,” Essie mused as she read out loud.  “I thought maybe they constructed greenhouses or something.  Maybe … oh!  Wait a minute!  Rose Brothers’ Construction!  What do you think?”

            “That’s probably what Santos meant,” agreed Opal.  “Are there any other companies with flowers in the titles?”

            “Let’s see,” replied Essie, “Taylor, Unlimited, Willamette … no, that appears to be all of the local construction companies.  Rose Brothers seems to be the only company that has a flower in its name.”

            “Call it, Essie!” urged Marjorie, tapping at the directory.

            “Yes, give it a try, Essie,” seconded Opal.  The two friends peered at their friend as Essie noted the number from the book.  With a deep breath, she tapped each number on her phone carefully and then waited patiently for an answer.  Soon, she was rewarded.

            “Oh, yes,” said Essie in her most gracious voice into the telephone receiver.  “I’m trying to locate one of your employees.  Uh … I believe he may have left his wallet at my home the other day when he was working on a project here.  His name is Gerald Compton … according to his driver’s license.”  Essie said this last part slowly as if she were reading the name from an actual driver’s license.   When the operator evidently responded positively, Essie beamed.

            “Oh, wonderful!” she cried.  “Mr. Compton works there!  Could I speak to him, please?”  Essie nodded at her friends on her sofa.  Marjorie and Opal smiled in return.  Essie listened to the operator and then her face fell.  “Oh, no!  Oh!  Really?  Oh, dear!  Yes, I understand.  Well, I’ll call back.”  She hung up abruptly. 

            “What happened?” asked Opal.

            “It seems,” Essie reported, “that Gerald Compton didn’t report to work today–as scheduled.  The receptionist didn’t know where he was.”

            “Oh, no!” cried Marjorie, “Do you think he has taken Maria and run off somewhere?”

            “I don’t know,” replied Essie with a look of extreme worry.  “But this is not a good development.  I need to let Santos know that Gerald Compton has apparently disappeared along with Maria.  If we don’t figure out what has happened to Antonio’s mother soon, we’ll have to report him to social services … abusive father or not.”

            “We can’t do that, Essie!” cried Marjorie, clutching the baby to her breast.  “Please, let’s try harder.  I can’t bear the thought of someone hurting this little boy.”  She placed a tender kiss on the baby’s head.

            “Me either,” agreed Opal, looking down at the baby beside her and gently rubbing his forehead with her finger tips while he drank his formula.

            “I certainly know why I like the two of you,” said Essie with a sigh.  At that moment, Essie’s front door opened suddenly.  All three women gasped, but were immediately calmed when Fay drove inside in her wheelchair, shutting the front door quickly behind her.  Fay motored over to her friends and held up a collection of tiny baby clothes.

            Fay smiled as she held up each item of clothing.  The women looked at each other and at Fay. 

            “I don’t want to speculate just what Fay is doing with a collection of doll clothes,” said Essie, “but these do appear to be about the right size.  Although, I’d prefer to avoid using the ruffled pink pinafore even if Antonio couldn’t complain about it.”